Disclaimer: Please see the first chapter.

Author's Note: Shade is Ron, Swift is Hermione and Harry is Storm. There is a story behind the names, which eventually will be told. The reason for the code names is explained in this chapter. As for getting rid of them, I would, but they are important to the over all plot. There is a major hint as to why they are important in this chapter.

Chapter 2; Gringotts

Contrary to what a certain potions master would have thought, Harry had not spent his week in Diagon Alley lazing around the place. He had spent most of it preparing. His plans largely depended on whether the goblins agreed to aid him, but he could start some of those plans before then, so he did. One of them had been to pick up generic battle robes for the three of them. In a few years, he would salvage the basilisk hide from the Chamber of Secrets and use that to make the ones they would become known by, but for now, while they were still only three quarters if their height, it would be a waste. The robes were black, as Hogwarts demanded their robes be, but they were made of a material called, Abekshke, that would absorb most low and mid level spells. While basilisk skin would take most of the high level spells as well, they weren't expecting to need that yet.

He had also picked up wand holsters and the dummy wands they would use over the summers to keep the ministry and Dumbledore off their back. Dumbledore was a great man and fifty years ago, he had been a great leader. Harry had a great deal of respect for him, but he had made mistakes… lots of mistakes and rather then try to fix them, he had simply refused to see and continued on regardless. Of all the causes of the long and brutal war looming in the future, Dumbledore's actions were responsible for more then half of them. Tom Riddle was responsible for most of the rest, although Harry could admit that for some of them, the blame rested on him, or on the other members of the Trio. This time round, the trio intended to neutralise Dumbledore as quickly as possible. The wizarding world may need him as a symbol, but they needed him to leave them alone.

He had been on his way into a small bookshop, when Griphook found him.

"Griphook! It's good to see you again, how have you been?"

If most of the surrounding people were surprised to hear a wizard speaking to a goblin as a friend and equal, they had nothing on the goblin himself as he stared at the human wizard, "I am fine, Mr Potter. I am to bring you to Gringotts."

"Sure, no problem." Harry cursed himself, he had been that delighted to see his brother; he completely forgot that in this time, Griphook had never met him. He was just thankful he remembered that before he gave the traditional goblin greeting. At the moment, not even the Domina knew he spoke their language and he wanted to keep it that way until he was sure of where he stood with them.

Harry wasn't really that surprised to find all the paperwork ready for the transfer. Goblins were nothing if not efficient. What he was surprised to find were three sets. The office wasn't that big, but it was big enough to fit the Domina, Harry, Ugatan, Griphook (who hadn't been dismissed), Harkick, the Bank Manager and Gligbet, the Potter Account Manager, who was looking slightly worried, comfortably.

Ugatan sneered at Harry for a moment and then said, "Let us get this done."

"You may speak at will, Harry." The Domina said softly.

"Why are there three sets of forms?"

The Domina and Harkick shared a look before the old woman settled herself more comfortably and said, "After you left last night, we continued talking. We made the decision to take Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger into our custody as well. Weasley is the youngest of six boys and has a younger sister as well. Granger is muggleborn. We think it would be easier on everyone if you had the option of staying together."

Harry nodded, not really surprised and looked at Gligbet, "I want to split the Potter Foundation into four equal parts. With your agreement, Harkick, I believe I can bypass the underage restriction."

"That is correct."

"Are you sure that is wise? I mean, shouldn't we at least inform his magical supervisor?" Gligbet was looking slightly panicked. Since Harry already knew where this was going, he had no sympathy for the goblin.

"No, we won't. Once these papers go through, Gligbet, Dumbledore won't be my supervisor."

"I know, but…"

"Is there something you need to tell us, Gligbet?" the Domina asked.

"No, Domina." Gligbet's shoulders slumped, defeated. The Domina looked at Harry, who shook his head slightly and then indicated that it would be better for her not to pursue it.

"If we do it this way, there will be fewer complications with Mione and Ron, since they will be heirs to the Potter Foundation." Harry explained.

The goblins nodded.

"And the forth part?" Harkick asked curiously.

Harry closed his eyes slightly, "That share will go to my brother."

"You do not have a brother, Harry." The Domina said softly.

"Not yet." Harry corrected, then he looked directly at the Domina, "But I hope in this timeline, as in the last, I will gain one."

The goblins eyes widened at the implications. No goblin had blood-bonded themselves to a wizard in over six hundred years.

"Preposterous!" Ugatan snapped.

"That's what you said last time." Harry said, "Didn't stop us though."

"I demand the name of this goblin!" Ugatan was on his feet.

"No." Harry said softly,

"You…"

"Be quiet, Ugatan." The Domina's voice silenced him, "If this goblin chooses to blood bond, it is their choice."

Ugatan sat down, but his glare told Harry he had made a dangerous enemy.

"Now, Gligbet," the Domina continued, "the forms please?"

One hour and forty minutes, three floo calls, seven shouting matches, six headaches and two cups of tea each later, there was only one thing left to be sorted out and Harry was looking forward to it.

Harkick sighed and slumped into his chair, "Now that's sorted. You are now officially a ward of Gringotts. All we have to do it sort out the Potter Foundation."

Gligbet began to sweat, "Surely that can wait. We could all do with a break…"

"No, I would rather get finished." The Domina's voice was hard. She had noticed. "Unless Harry, you wish a break?"

"No, Domina, I am happy to continue. The sooner this is done, the better. The files, please?" Harry said the last to Gligbet with a very nasty grin on his face.

It took another three hours to get the latest mess sorted out. The Domina was furious. Harkick looked ready to declare war on Dumbledore. Ugatan was trying very hard not to be angry for the human boy. Griphook was stunned. Harry was sadistically pleased and Gligbet… Well Gligbet has been sacked, arrested and had already counted his lucky stars that the Domina hadn't ordered his immediate death. She was at least giving him a trial. It would be a farce once word got out, but maybe Dumbledore could do something. It was his fault he was in this mess.

A goblin spell had caused the Potter Foundation files in Dumbledore's possession to burn. The original's, stored in the Council Vault at Gringotts had been retrieved and a new copy had been ordered. In the mean time, Harry had instated Griphook as his new account manager and signed the forth quarter of the Foundation to be held in trust until the Blood Brother ritual. Harry was still refusing to tell them who his brother would be, but from the looks Griphook kept sending him, Harry's greeting earlier that day had given the plot away. The Domina had asked Harry if he was sure of his choice, pointing out that Griphook was still entry level. She had been struggling to give the best advice she could while still showing support for her great grandson. Harry, who already knew this, found the entire thing hilarious. He had solved the problem by saying that he had appointed Griphook in the other timeline and since the goblin had done an amazing job, he didn't plan on changing that. The Domina had relaxed and looked proudly at her grandson. Harry relaxed as well. His great grandmother's… dislike… of Harry had always been a sore point for his brother. This time Harry intended to make sure it didn't become an issue.

Albus Dumbledore had been sitting at his desk, flicking through the Potter Foundation files, trying to determine if there was a pattern to the boy's spending and more importantly, trying to work out what the boy was doing in Diagon Alley without protection. He had to assume that Harry had somehow managed to talk his aunt into taking him, although he personally couldn't think of anything that would get Petunia Evans-Dursley anywhere near the magical centre of Britain. It was a pity he had had to leave the boy there, but there had been no other way.

A green whoosh from the fireplace broke him out of his musings and he looked over to see the tear-stained face of Molly Weasley looking out of his fire. "Molly, my dear, what ever is wrong?" He stood up and moved over to the fireplace, taking a conveniently placed chair to he could talk to her without having to kneel down.

"Oh, Albus! The goblins! The goblins are taking my baby!"

For a moment, Albus tried to think of a situation where that would be probably or even possible, then changing his mind, he said, "What do you mean, Molly, why are the goblins taking Ginerva?"

Through the sobs, he managed to catch four words. Four words that made the blood drain from his face. "Molly, I will go to Gringotts myself. Please, get Ginerva organised and meet me there. I'm sure there has been a mistake."

Ward… Potter Foundation… heir

"It's not Ginny, its RON!"

"Well, get Ron ready then."

It made no sense.

The door had just shut behind him when the book he had been reading burst into flame, startling a squawk from Fawkes.

Gringotts was busy, but not immensely so when Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace and into the lobby. He answered the greetings with a nod and a smile and made his way to one of the queues. He made no request or even indicated that he was in a hurry, but as usual, everyone in the queue ushered him to the front and within a few minutes he was speaking to the goblin. That was when things started going down hill.

"I would like to speak with Gligbet, please." It never hurt to use the goblins' names. It threw them off.

"There is no Gligbet working for Gringotts."

"I assure you there is, he is the account manager for the Potter Foundation…"

"There is no Gligbet working for Gringotts. The manager of the Potter Foundation is Griphook."

"Then can I speak to Griphook?"

The goblin looked down his nose at the wizard on front of him and then routed through the papers on his desk. He held up a piece of parchment and looked over it. "No."

Dumbledore blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

"You are not on the list of people who may interrupt Griphook's meeting with his clients."

Dumbledore wasn't sure what he would have said in reply to that because at that moment, Molly Weasley dragged her son up to him, looking expectantly on. Dumbledore sighed. It was going to be a long day.

An hour later, Molly Weasley, Albus Dumbledore and Griphook were sitting in the latter's office, getting increasing frustrated with each other. The Domina hadn't given Griphook much room to manoeuvre and Harry and Ron had disappeared into one of the empty offices further down the hall within moments of seeing each other, so they were no help at all. Dumbledore was not used to being denied and Molly Weasley's constant wails weren't helping.

"For the last time, Mr Dumbledore, under the 1645 treaty, if the goblins feel that an heir has been placed with an inappropriate guardian, we can remove said heir into Gringotts' custody. Mr Potter is now a ward of Gringotts. The reasons for Mr Potter's generosity are his own and have been approved by the bank manager. Due to the situations both receivers are in, Gringotts felt it was in the best interests of all concerned that the three heirs to the Potter Foundation were kept together. Gligbet is awaiting trial as we speak for gross misconduct because he gave you access to the Foundation files. I do not intend to do the same thing."

"Griphook…"

"Mrs Weasley," Griphook continued over Dumbledore, "the paperwork has already been filed. Your son is now a ward of Gringotts. We are happy to allow contact and he may return to your home whenever he wants. However, due to the wealth he has been gifted with, we decided it would be in his and your best interest if the money was not a temptation." He glared at Dumbledore, who managed to look completely serene at the comment clearly directed at him.

In another room Harry moan slightly at the feel of Ron's hands on the skin of his back. They weren't the calloused hands of his memory, being smoother, younger, but they were still Ron's hands. Harry tilted his head a little more to allow his tongue easier access to Ron's mouth for a few more moments before they broke away gasping. Harry rested his forehead against Ron's chest and sighed. He wasn't surprised that his body didn't react to what they were doing, but it did piss him off. They were years away from being able to quench the heat between them, annoying, but true. Ron slid his hands out from beneath his T-shirt and they held each other for another few moments before separating and pulling their robes back on.

"Why the change in plan?" Ron asked.

"Not my choice. The Domina wants us together. I can't argue with her."

"Stupid customs. Don't see why we need a woman to speak for us."

"They say the same thing about us. Why do they need a human to speak for them?"

Ron sighed, "I know, Storm, but that doesn't mean I like it."

"I wonder if Griphook has thrown your mum out yet."

Ron snorted, "Don't even joke about that. Come on, we should probably join them."

"Yeah, but that means dealing with Dumbledore."

"I know."

With one last gentle kiss, the boys separated and left the office, walking slowly towards Griphook's office.

The entered the office quietly, looking around the glaring adults. Dumbledore spoke first, "Well Mr Potter, you seem to have caused quite the conundrum."

"Really, Professor Dumbledore, you make it sound like I have done something wrong. The goblins have decided that my aunt is unsuitable as a guardian and exercised their right to remove me."

"So I have been told. However, I am curious as to how you know our young Mr Weasley." It was a statement, but a statement that demanded an answer.

Harry shrugged, "That is really none of your business." His eyes slid away from the headmaster innocently as if he was simply looking around the room, but Dumbledore caught the shift that made sure they never made eye contact. It took every bit of control he ever had to stop he reflexive response. Potter knew of legilimency and more importantly he knew the headmaster would use it against him. He turned to look at Ron who also slid his eyes away, looking instead at he mother with a small, sad smile. Dumbledore couldn't stop his eyes widening.

"Mum, this is for the best. This is something I want. Can you just accept that?"

"Ron, you're only eleven…"

"Maybe, but would it hurt to let me try?"

"Ron…"

"I know… I hope that one day you will look at Harry and Mione like they were you own children, but please, mum, let us do this?"

"Who is 'Mione'?" Dumbledore asked.

"I am."

All the adults jumped slightly as they turned to look at a small girl standing in the open doorway. She walked over to the headmaster and held out her hand, "Hermione Granger, or Mione as these two insist on calling me."

"Albus Dumbledore, at your service."

The girl nodded and turned to Molly, "Mrs Weasley?"

Molly would have sat down if she hadn't already been seated at the look of pure, unadulterated longing in the girl's eyes. There was something going on here and she may not have known what it was, but she did know when a child was desperate for support.

"Yes, dear. Alright Ron, there isn't much I can do about this anyway," Molly took the girl's hand in her own, "But I expect all three of you for dinner tonight."

Mione smiled and squeezed Molly's hand, then turned to the others, "My parents want to take the three of us away for the weekend. We'll be leaving on Friday at 5, okay?"

Ron and Harry nodded.

"In the mean time, I have some shopping to do. Coming, you two?"

"As long as somewhere besides Flourish and Blotts is on the agenda." Harry laughed.

Mione scowled and then laughed, "Oh you…" She mock slapped Harry, who dodged out of the way, laughing.

Saying goodbye to the adults, the trio left, leaving a frustrated headmaster, a pensive Molly and a relieved Griphook.

"First…" Hermione said, and dragged the boys into an empty office. Shoving the door closed behind them, Ron watched as Hermione jerked Harry to her and smashed their lips together. Harry didn't need much encouragement as he opened his mouth and allowed her tongue inside. His arms rose up behind her, pulling her tighter against his lean frame and they both moaned at the sensation. Unwilling to be left totally out, Ron made his way over and took up position behind Hermione. He slid his arms around her and under her T-shirt, tracing up her belly to just below where her breasts would one day rest. He was tempted to keep moving up, but was unwilling to disappoint himself. Hermione was eleven now, a young girl, not he woman his body had once known so well.

Hermione seemed to sense his indecision and took the matter out of his hands, by breaking the kiss with Harry and turning inside the circle of their arms. Ron got one look at her blinding smile before temptation proved to much and he lowered his lips to hers, feeling Harry's arms snake around him as well, as the Boy-Who-Lived held them close.

Eventually, Ron and Hermione pulled apart, "It feels weird…" Hermione trailed off.

Ron snorted as he felt Harry's arms loosen around him, "Yeah."

"The next few years are going to be hard."

The boys murmured agreement as they straightened their clothed and moved towards the door.

Hermione bit her lip. The boys shared a look and stopped to look at her. She always bit her lip when she was about to suggest something they wouldn't like. It had even given them away once, when they had been running from Death Eaters and had tried using glamour charms to loose them.

"What?"

"I think maybe…"

"Mione."

"I… Ithinkweshouldtrytokeepourrelationshipasplatonicaspossibleforthemoment."

Ron and Harry shared a look again and this time it was Harry who asked, "What?"

Hermione sighed, "I think we should keep our relationship as platonic as possible for now."

"What?"

"Why?"

Hermione sighed, "Lets get some ice-cream."

A few minutes later they were sitting at one of the outdoor tables at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, each with a sundae on front of them. Hermione was frowning at Ron's.

"Okay, Swift, what's up?"

The name drew another frown from Hermione, "When you were eleven Shade, you didn't like raspberry."

Ron blinked and looked down at his summer fruits sundae.

"Harry, you were muggle raised, at eleven you didn't know anything about the magical world. You live in Surrey, Ron lives in Devon and I live in Lancashire. There is no potential way for the three of us to know each other, particularly Ron. Originally we would have had a history together. You could have fumbled anything you shouldn't have known with me telling you, but…"

Harry began to swear… inventively. Hermione kicked him under the table when one of the men at another table looked over to the eleven year old in surprise.

Ron frowned, "You've lost me."

"We screwed up."

"I got that much."

Harry sighed, "We started the plan we made for forth year, Shade. But we don't have the support network that we would have had then. We're acting like we did when we were fourteen or even older because that's what we're been conditioning ourselves to do since we came up with this plan. For example, we shouldn't know each other yet. By forth year, the idea of the Golden Trio was set in people's minds, but at the moment, we're simply three very precocious children. Getting me out of Durskaban needed research, research that Mione would have supposedly carried out in third year. Instead an eleven year old muggle raised child walked into Gringotts quoting an obscure Treaty that most of the goblins don't remember. And that's just the big things; you didn't develop a liking for raspberries until you were in your late teens. Your family, particularly the twins, would have noticed. Swift has more social skills now then she had when she was fourteen. I'm much more grounded then I should be after ten years of abuse, although granted the war has made that less noticeable. And the blasted names! We are so used to using the code names that we slip into it automatically. But we don't need them because Voldemort hasn't developed the tracking spell yet."

Ron frowned; twelve years into the future, Voldemort would blanket Britain in a spell that tracked spoken names, zeroing in on certain names when they were spoken to their owner. The Trio had been the first people caught by the new tracking method and had been behind the almost immediate use of codenames by the Light side.

"Lots of people use nicknames, Harry. I don't think that they'll be much of a give away, but you might have a point about the rest. We need a cover story and we need it by dinnertime. Oh and what do you want to do about Wormtail?"

Harry blinked, "You know, I'd completely forgotten about Scabbers…" Shaking his head, he added, "Let's sort the cover story out first and worry about Wormtail afterwards."

Hermione and Ron nodded and they got to work.

Later, as the three made their way to the Leaky Cauldron to floo to the Burrow, Ron turned their attention back to the original question, "So why the platonic relationship?"

Mione sighed, "We can't afford to draw any more attention then we already have. I never mentioned this before because it never seemed that big a deal, but next Christmas, McGonagall will corner me about my friendship with you two. Basically, the staff will be worried that I'm the only girl in the Trio and McGonagall will try to get me to 'widen my circle of friends to include at least one more girl my age' to use her expression."

Both boys stopped walking to stare at her.

"What?"

"I…"

"We…"

"Bloody hell, Swift, what did they think we were doing?"

"I don't think they thought we were doing anything, Ron, but I don't think it would be a good idea to do anything to encourage the belief that we are. Plus, we're eleven. There's already going to be talk, we don't need to give them another reason to be suspicious of us."

Ron grunted, but he had to agree. Harry was silent, largely because he couldn't think of anything to say. They were getting close to the Leaky Cauldron when Ron asked a question that had been nagging him all day, "Harry, if we're meant to be in Gringotts care now, where the heck are we meant to live?"

Harry laughed, "I've made arrangements with a muggle hotel for us to stay there."

"You found a muggle hotel that will let three unsupervised children stay there?" Hermione asked.

"They seem to be under them impression that our parents are staying at their biggest rivals for a series of very important meetings. We've been causing them no end of trouble, so they're putting us up somewhere else to keep us out of the way."

Hermione blinked in surprise, but Ron roared with laughter and slapped Harry on the back.

The Burrow was exactly as Harry and Hermione remembered it. Quietly, so only they could hear, Ron said "When I came round and was looking at it, I thought I was going to burst into tears."

They nodded. The Burning of the Burrow was the mid way point in the war, when Voldemort's power started to decline. Not only did Molly and Bill Weasley perish in the flames, but Bill's wife, Fleur miscarried their unborn child as a result of her injuries. She took her life three days later. Only Ron, Ginny and George would survive from the Weasley family, although whether George counted as survived was debatable. When the Trio had left, he was in Longbottom Asylum and the general opinion was he would never recover.

Harry and Hermione bit back their emotions and greeted the family. Within a few minutes, Mrs Weasley had then all sitting down and their plates loaded with food. With one look, the Trio made a silent promise that, this time, the Burrow would still be standing at the end of the war.

"So, how did you three meet?" Arthur asked. He had taken the news that Gringotts had taken custody of his youngest son better then Molly had.

Hermione answered, "I met Harry about five years ago in London and we've kept in touch ever since. I met Ron in the Village about… three?" she paused and looked at Ron, who said,

"Four."

"Four years ago and again, kept in touch. When Ron found out who my other best friend was, he wanted to meet him so they started writing as well and well…" Hermione shrugged.

Harry jumped in before anyone could say anything, "I'm sorry, Mr, Mrs Weasley, I asked Ron to keep my identity a secret. I know how I'm viewed in the magical world and I really don't like it. I didn't want him to be constantly pestered by people asking him for my contact details. That's the reason we've been using nicknames."

On the face of it, it made perfect sense and Mr Weasley simply nodded, although later he asked if there was anyone else Ron was friends with that they should know about. Ron was very tempted to say Draco Malfoy, but he resisted. Ginny was totally silent the entire way through dinner. Although the Trio noticed, none of them really had any idea what to do about it. None of them really knew how to react to her obvious crush on the Boy-Who-Lived.

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